Edward VIII

(1894–1972), later known as Duke of Windsor, reigned for 11 months during 1936. He was the only king in British history to give up the throne voluntarily. Edward was the oldest son of George V and Queen Mary. He was educated by private tutors and studied at the Royal Naval College and Oxford University. After his father came to the throne in 1910 Edward became duke of Cornwall and soon afterwards was made Prince of Wales. During World War I he was with the army in France, Belgium, Egypt, and Italy. He wanted his full share of danger and resented the restrictions on his activities.

After World War I Edward became a “traveling ambassador” of good will. He made a series of royal tours that took him around the world visiting parts of the British Empire. In 1919 he also stopped in the United States. He showed concern for the working classes and the underprivileged at home and abroad. He was an enthusiastic sportsman. As a bachelor Prince of Wales, he was the center of many matrimonial rumors.

Edward reigned from January 20 to December 11, 1936, but was never crowned. He abdicated in order to marry an American divorcée, Wallis Warfield Simpson. (The British government opposed this union because of the king's role as titular head of the Church of England; the church forbade divorced persons to remarry and would not recognize his marriage to Mrs. Simpson.) After his abdication he was made Duke of Windsor by his brother, George VI. Edward married Mrs. Simpson in June, 1937. During World War II he served briefly as a major general with British forces in France. He was governor of the Bahama Islands, 1940–45, then lived mostly in France.

Edward's memoirs, A King's Story (1951), later became the basis for a documentary film of the same title.